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The Bayeux Tapestry, Napoleon and the Nazis

Posted on 11/03/2009
University of Leicester

The Bayeux Tapestry is an 11th century Norman interpretation of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and one of the many mysteries surrounding it is why this iconic eleventh-century source has been so coveted by modern dictators.

Dr Carola Hicks, a former fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, lecturer in Art History at Cambridge, and a prolific author of many books on medieval history and art history, will be pondering this question in a public lecture to take place at the University of Leicester on Wednesday 18th March at 6pm.

Dr Hicks will discuss the way in which the story told by the Tapestry was appropriated by later regimes, who sought to reinterpret the past in the light of contemporary political and military goals.

Her research has taken her to the archives of the Nazi regime, including personal letters from Himmler showing that he coveted the Tapestry as a key piece of evidence to link contemporary Nazi ideology with the Viking past (and the conquest of the British Isles).

Napoleon too realised its propaganda value in support of his own military ambitions against the English people.

Dr Joanna Story, Senior Lecturer in Early Medieval History, and co-organiser of the Medieval Research Centres public lecture series commented: The past is (as any student of history, archaeology or literature knows well) constantly being re-interpreted and reshaped, often to fit modern political or cultural objectives. In her lecture Dr Hicks will show us how one of the most iconic, recognisable pieces of medieval story-telling, was coveted by dictators in the modern era.

Dr Carola Hicks is an expert in the reception and (re)-interpretation of medieval sources, buildings and objects in later centuries. Two of her most recent books include The Kings Glass (2007 abridged for Radio 4) and The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story of a Masterpiece (2006), which reveals the mystery, secrets and continuing fascination of the 70m tapestry, worked nearly 1000 years ago and still a vibrant example of pictorial storytelling.

Dr Hicks groundbreaking book on the Bayeux Tapestry explores the way in which generations of people have interpreted this iconic object in the centuries after the eleventh-century Norman Conquest of Anglo-Saxon England. The Tapestry tells a pro-Norman version of the events that led up to Duke Williams victory against the Anglo-Saxon armies in 1066.

The lecture is open to all comers, and is particularly recommended for undergraduate and graduate students of History, Archaeology and English who are interested in the ways in which the past is shaped, reshaped and retold often for nefarious political motives.

The Medieval Research Centre is a forum for all students and staff at the University of Leicester whose work focuses on the sources and interpretation of the Middle Ages (School of Historical Studies, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, School of English).

http://www.le.ac.uk/arts/medieval/

The activities of the MRC include the annual series of Public Lectures, of which this lecture is a part, as well as a research seminar series. The final lecture in the 2009 series, The Matter of Fulk: Romance and History in Fourteenth Century England? will be given by Professor Ralph Hanna, of the University of Oxford, on Wednesday 6th May.

Dr Carola Hickss talk,The Bayeux Tapestry, Napoleon and the Nazis will take place at the University of Leicester Attenborough Lecture Theatre 2 (Film Theatre) on Wednesday 18th March 2009, 6.00pm. It is open to the public and free of charge.